Germany

Notice:If you have any questions or concerns regarding the procedures and requirements for exporting animals, animal products, or to obtain a zoosanitary certificate for an animal product, you should contact the VS Field Office covering the area from where the animal or product will be exported (or the area in which your office is located).

Animal Products

Live Animals

Animal Products to Germany

Germany is a member state of the European Union. The European Union has harmonized import requirements for certain animal origin products. For harmonized protocols, please refer to the general information file for the European Union.

Information specific to Germany is included below.

Language Requirement for Certificates

Germany generally requires certificates for consignments from the United States to be in both English and German. [Some border inspection posts (BIPs) may be willing to accept English certificates without official translations- exporters should have their importers confirm with the BIP prior to shipment if English certificates are acceptable.] In cases where the BIP requires the certificate to be in German, the importer can obtain an "official" translation of English certificates from any licensed translation service in Germany. After APHIS endorses the English version, the U.S. exporter can send the certificate via a courier service to the importer who can then have the translation service attach the German translation prior to presentation to the German BIP when the consignment arrives. If the importer has questions about whether a particular translation service in Germany is licensed, they should check with the pertinent BIP. Alternatively, the exporter can work with their importer to create a truly bilingual version of the certificate prior to presentation to APHIS for endorsement.

Species of Origin: Germany requires certificates to list the scientific name of the species of animal from which exported materials are derived. This is required in Section I.28 on most certificates. Specific terminology (required for species of origin) varies by the German port. Exporters should have their importers confirm (prior to preparation of certificates) the specific terminology the German port requires for the “scientific name."